Who here builds their own firearms?

[ilikegunspdx]

I'm placing this in general so it gets seen by a wider audience.

I'm not talking about those that assemble anything and everything AR related.

I'm looking for those that actually build rifles and handguns.

I don't intend this to be one of my classic rants or even a brag thread to display our talents.
If it took a 4 foot breaker bar to get that barrel off the K98, tell us.
If you incorrectly assembled and rode the lightening, humor us, as long as no one died.
If you have a particular order of operation to tune the extractor in a 1911, have at it.
For the advanced group tell about your take a turn, rechamber, true the boltface experience.
Ever do a feed ramp? Throat? Magwell? Even custom fit a bushing? Speak up!

Some of us have been doing this for decades and frankly, we can't take it with us.

Teach what you learn.

There is an entire section on "homemade and experimental firearms". That's where this thread belongs Imo.

 

[Spitpatch]

I DO appreciate the distinction the OP made, excluding AR assembly (rivaling the technical expertise of dressing a Barbie Doll) from true gun building.

The same distinction should be appropriate toward all the "AR Front Stores" (Very little inventory, little or no knowledge regarding other guns, etc.) calling themselves Gun Stores.

 

[JGSFAB]

My first "tight" barrel removal. FN 98 (large ring) , it took clamping it in my mill vise in my 20klb cnc and an 8ft cheater. To grab in the barrel vise I use green (wicking) loctite after the barrel is installed. Easy to remove with the right cleaner. It survived and currently shooting it.

My family has built their own for generations, JGS = Jim's gun shop. I watched them blue barrels and actions, carve stocks, glass actions, etc. So now I do the same and more. But strictly for my self.

 

[orygun]

@Velzey should be in this thread, but he's probably waaaay to busy to play.

I've not built any gun, but I've torn several all of the ways down to bare bones for maintenance and such.
Probably the only "building" I've done is to have fit Timney triggers into Ruger 77MKIIs. Done two of them. The second one took less time than the first, but it's a slow process. File, mark, test, file, mark, test.....

This is from when I took the 1894 down to give a good cleaning an lube job. I'm sure some of those screws hadn't been turned since 1917.

 

[Dirk]

I'm placing this in general so it gets seen by a wider audience.

I'm not talking about those that assemble anything and everything AR related.

I'm looking for those that actually build rifles and handguns.

I don't intend this to be one of my classic rants or even a brag thread to display our talents.
If it took a 4 foot breaker bar to get that barrel off the K98, tell us.
If you incorrectly assembled and rode the lightening, humor us, as long as no one died.
If you have a particular order of operation to tune the extractor in a 1911, have at it.
For the advanced group tell about your take a turn, rechamber, true the boltface experience.
Ever do a feed ramp? Throat? Magwell? Even custom fit a bushing? Speak up!

Some of us have been doing this for decades and frankly, we can't take it with us.

Teach what you learn.

I'm an amateur, on the steep part of the learning-curve, and while most of my builds are muzzleloaders, I did rebarrel a small-ring Mauser. It was a 1916 Chilean, I think, that had been relined and rechambered to 7.62 Nato, and the "new" bore was very dark. A friend picked up a small-ring 7x57 barrel that was bright and sharp, but had one badly pitted area, just above the upper guard, presumably from contact with a wet rack?
I didn't have proper tools to remove the barrel, so I made an action-clamp from a 1" aluminum plate and bolted it to my bench, and cut off the barrel and ground hex-flats on it. The cheater-bar wasn't more than 2 feet, but when it finally broke loose, the noise made me assume I'd broken a tool.
I don't have a lathe, so I rigged V-blocks and used a piece of rubber hose to connect the barrel to my 1/2" drill, which my 8-year-old son turned while I ground the shoulder. I got it seated and clocked nicely, with the pitted area at 6:00 (inside the stock).
Then I rented a reamer and gauges to do the tricky part. Yeah, you guessed it, I got impatient and went to deep. I put my son to work again and reground the shoulder. I didn't feel good about taking a whole thread-worth of material off, so now the pitted area is proudly displayed at just about exactly 12:00 on the finished rifle. Keeps me humble.
The good news is that it shoots well, and 7X57 is just a sweet cartridge!

 

[CLT65]

My first "tight" barrel removal. FN 98 (large ring) , it took clamping it in my mill vise in my 20klb cnc and an 8ft cheater. To grab in the barrel vise I use green (wicking) loctite after the barrel is installed. Easy to remove with the right cleaner. It survived and currently shooting it.

My family has built their own for generations, JGS = Jim's gun shop. I watched them blue barrels and actions, carve stocks, glass actions, etc. So now I do the same and more. But strictly for my self.

View attachment 1804157

Your grandfather was a legend among the older generation in that area, when I was growing up.

 

[solv3nt]

I tied me own shoes this morning all by me'self.

 

[billdeserthills]

It does define unfinished frame and receiver is.

(18)(a) "Unfinished frame or receiver" means a forging, casting, printing, extrusion, ma-
chined body or similar item that:
(A) Is designed to or may readily be completed, assembled or otherwise converted to
function as a frame or receiver; or
(B) Is marketed or sold to the public to be completed, assembled or otherwise converted
to function as a frame or receiver.


In order to build a firearm you will need a finished frame receiver and as luck would have it, they defined those too.


5) "Frame" means the part of a handgun, or variant of a handgun, that provides housing
or a structure for the primary energized component designed to hold back the hammer,
striker, bolt or similar element, prior to initiation of the firing sequence, even if pins or
other attachments are required to attach the component to the housing or structure.


(13) "Receiver" means the part of a rifle, shotgun or projectile weapon other than a
handgun, or a variant of a rifle, shotgun or projectile weapon other than a handgun, that
provides housing or a structure for the primary component designed to block or seal the
breech prior to initiation of the firing sequence, even if pins or other attachments are re-
quired to connect the component to the housing or structure.


We are screwed in Oregon unless that law falls.

Seems Unconstitutional, eventually someone is going to find out